Heroes
by TwiShyPie
Summary: Equestria might be facing their biggest threat yet. Only the greatest heroes can uncover the shocking truth, piece by piece, and put an end to the madness. With lives in danger, powerful enemies, and what might be the end of Equestria, saving the day might just be impossible.
1. Chapter 1

Apple-Bloom trotted down the streets of Manehattan, humming happily to herself. Her sister had brought her along there to visit their aunt and Uncle Orange. Excited to see her favorite cousins again, she had agreed to come and was now on her way to the sweet shop to get something for her cousins. Apple-Jack only let her go alone because Apple-Bloom had told her that she was just going to the little store just a short walk from the house. That actually _was_ Apple-Bloom's original plan, but when she got there the only sweets she could find were jars of peppermints. So she decided to go to the huge candy shop instead, which was much, much further away. She wasn't scared at all, thinking that Apple-Jack was just being the overprotective sister that she always was. Besides, she always went around Ponyville by herself. Why would Manehattan be any different? She was having a hard time finding the store though. The large city was a lot more crowded than her simple town Ponyville, and all the buildings looked the same. She asked the ponies around her for directions, but either they couldn't hear her over the noise of the traffic, ignored her, or glared at her and said they were busy. Apple-Bloom was feeling rather overwhelmed by it all, but kept going. She asked yet another pony the way to the candy shop, and this time, she got a proper answer.

The tall stallion, who was completely covered with a long coat, hat, boots, and sunglasses, answered in a friendly voice "Hello there! So you want to get to the candy store, do you? No problem! I'll lead you there. I can buy you a little treat there too!"

"No need to buy me anything sir" replied Apple-Bloom at once, who, brought up with Apple-Jack, had been taught to always pay for her things. "But it would be nice if you could take me there!"

The innocent young filly didn't find anything suspicious about him. In Ponyville there were plenty of helpful ponies like him. It wasn't even strange to give candy to fillies. Ponies like Cheerilee and Mr. Cake would often slip a few sweets in the hooves of the giggling little fillies that passed by. As for his clothing, Apple-Bloom had never been one to question fashion choices. So the two walked along quietly. "You're not from around here are you?" asked the older pony conversationally.

"No, I'm from Ponyville" replied Apple-Bloom. The stallion smiled to himself at this. Apple-Bloom finally started to look around her. They were walking through an alley. Nobody else was there. It didn't look like a path to anywhere. "Are you sure this is the way?" asked Apple-Bloom uncertainly. "I think we already passed it"

"No no this is the way!" he answered. Soon they walked into a dead end.

"Ooops!" he said. Apple- bloom noticed that there was a car parked near them. There was no one else around. Apple-Bloom started to get a bit nervous, but she wasn't sure why. Suddenly, the stallion pulled out a piece of cloth from his coat and swiftly gagged her mouth with it. Terrified, she tried to run away but was no match for the huge pony who roughly clutched her and got into the nearby car. The driver immediately sped away on the road. Apple-Bloom's voice came out muffled from the gag as the first stallion tied up her hooves as well, and there was nobody else to hear her anxious screams.


	2. Chapter 2

They must have broken every traffic rule to ever exist as they tore down the road, soon driving away from the creepily empty streets and into the bustling Mane road. Half the time the car was doing flips and balancing on one of its corners to avoid crashing into something. While the stallions were strapped up in a complicated looking seatbelt, Apple Bloom was being thrown all over backseats, not even able to hold on to anything because of the ropes that tied her hooves together. She'd never even seen a real car before, but she was pretty sure it wasn't supposed to move like that. What bothered her was why nobody else seemed to notice. This was Manehattan; the police should have been by their side in an instant. Yet everyone surrounding them showed no sign they saw anything unusual. The stallion that had caught her noticed her expression and said in an off-hand way "This thing is invisible."

Her jaw would have dropped, had she not been gagged.

He couldn't be serious, right?

No, he couldn't be. She had seen the car herself as she was brought to it.

But that certainly wasn't her only worry. She began to acknowledge the true horror of her situation. She was kidnapped, in a possibly invisible, out of control vehicle driving to who knows where. Silent tears flowed down as the realization flooded her mind. When would she _ever_ learn not to disregard her sister's warnings? It had gotten her into danger before, and she was almost always saved by her sister herself.

 _Please find me_ she prayed silently. A fresh set of tears formed as she thought how worried everyone would be. This was supposed to be a fun day. She rolled over as the car jolted again, narrowly missing a young mare who skipped along happily. Was this thing actually invisible? It didn't seem so unlikely when she thought about it. There were stranger things in Equestria. Out of tears, she closed her eyes, trying to calm down. She imagined Apple Jack's sweet voice singing a lullaby and smiled. In a few minutes, she had drifted off.

"Wake up!" commanded a harsh voice. Apple Bloom slowly opened her eyes. They must have driven for hours, for it was nighttime. The two stallions, who she now found were both unicorns, had gotten out in what seemed to be a deserted group of hills. The one who was driving cut her binds with a pair of scissors, ripped off her gag and roughly pulled her out of the car. As she stood, still firmly clutched by the older pony, she saw that she couldn't see the vehicle anymore.

There was no time to puzzle over this as they quickly led her to a golden-brown hill. At its bottom, she immediately noticed a rather large metal door, painted to somewhat look like the hill, but not concealed very well. She supposed it didn't matter as nobody else would come here. It was the middle of nowhere. The gray unicorn who had originally found her pulled out a green card from his coat and swiped it across a long slit on the metal door. Surprisingly quietly, it slowly opened to reveal a staircase. She was rushed down them as the door began to close again, now having just a few hanging lanterns as a source of light, which cast eerie shadows over the cracked walls. Apple Bloom unconsciously shivered the entire time. This seemed a bit too serious, even for a kidnapping experience. Just who exactly were these ponies? They finally reached the bottom, where they found a huge door in front of them. Faint noises came from behind it, none of them sounding welcoming. The gray pony pushed open the door and Apple Bloom almost screamed. Instead she watched with her mouth wide open, unable to speak or move. The sight before her was nothing like anything she had ever seen. Hundreds of ponies of all ages were in an enormous room, all of them busy at some kind of work. A group of fillies were being screamed at by a bulky red pegasus. With a chill, Apple Bloom recognized many of them from newspapers- foals who had been kidnapped from all over Equestria, and never found. One of them she faintly remembered had been lost when she was about four, and seemed to be a teenager now. But it was clear that not everyone here had been captured. She just couldn't understand what this place was. Why would anyone want to kidnap so many fillies? Her eyes scanned the room more closely and checked what the ponies were doing. Many were doing excruciating exercises. A few were racing across an obstacle. The majority of them seemed to have some kind of weapon. They were fighting with swords, shooting arrows, and even blasting plastic balls with canons. Strewn around the room were suits of armor, strange machines, and many more weapons. Terror overcame her whole body. Her legs became weak and buckled under her, and she fought to breathe properly as she finally understood.

This was an army. One she would soon have to join.


End file.
